Tuesday, 23 December 2014

Jimmy Blanco Restaurant - Surry Hills - Sydney, Australia

The Christmas season lunches and dinners have been rolling in non-stop and I have been eating so much over the last few weeks. Will need to hit the gym and do some more exercises next year. Till then, I shall continue to indulge in good food with good company.

We were initially planning to go to a Mexican Cantina owned by the Merivale Group called 'El Loco' in Surry Hills who are well-known for their cocktails and tacos. As it's located within the Excelsior Hotel, there isn't much seating. There are a few tables on the outside but inside it's mainly a standing area near the bar. As there were no vacant tables, we decided to find another place.

Walking down Foveaux Street, we stumbled across a little restaurant which was relatively packed with customers. They specialise in fusion Latin-Australian cuisine. From the paper menu outside, it looked appealing with selections such as burgers, ribs and steaks to a mix of mini bites.

The eatery is open spaced and airy with Latin music playing in the background.

We started with the entrees.

The 'Empanadas ($9.00)' are little pastries filled with minced beef. There was a spicy kick to the mince filling and it went well with the mayonnaise. We specially loved the sauce and used it to dip with the other items.

'Corn Chips and Guacamole ($7.00)' was one of my favourites. A simple dish but that guacamole was just beyond delicious. I could eat bowls and bowls of it. The corn chips were also freshly made and these two together were a match made in heaven. Unfortunately, a large percentage of the chips were broken into little pieces which made scooping up the guacamole a challenge.

'Chargrilled King Prawns ($17.00)' was the favourite amongst the group. Large, plump and juicy prawns, grilled to perfection, served with a side of garlic aioli and mango chilli salsa. This was exquisite and the others definitely agreed. I find the addition of fresh mango to anything savoury confuses my taste buds but this combination went well together.

'Patatas Bravas' was unfortunately disappointing. The Spanish version we're use to eating is usually fried to a crispy golden brown and then abundantly drizzled with a tomato based sauce and mayonnaise. The one here was simply large chunks of potato, possibly steamed or cooked in hot water, then coated in a tomato sauce. It lacked the flavours and most of it was left untouched.

Then it was onto the mains.

The 'BBQ Pulled Pork Burger ($10.00)' had melt in your mouth pulled pork with slaw and lime mayonnaise. The pulled pork was cooked well and had a nice balance of sweet and saltiness, leaning more towards the sweeter side. The sauce from the slaw affected the overall taste of the burger as it left a bit of tang.

By this point, we were really full and struggling to finish everything. The 'Chorizo Hot Dog ($10.00)' had a nicely grilled chorizo sausage with roasted capsicum, rocket and chimmichurri. I much preferred this over the burger as the sausage was well seasoned with spices.

The service staff were extremely friendly and most of the food was spot on. The sides and entrees here reigned supreme over the burgers. Will definitely be coming back for more of these as we were told that the chicken wings were a winner. Prices are reasonable and the food was tasty. What more could you ask for?